Elijah weight



(No Model.)

B. WRIGHT.

HAND POWER FOR SEWING MAGHINES.

Patented Oct. '7

INVENT OR ATTORNEYS.

Unrrnn States Patent ELIJAH XVRIGHT, OF GOLDVVATER, MISSISSIPPI, ASSIG-NOR TO HIMSELF AND SILAS R. YVHITTEN, OF SAME PLACE.

I lAND=POWER FOR SEWlNG WlACE lENES.

3PZGCIFICAIION forming part of Letters Patent No. 306,370, dated October 188%.

Application filed June it], 1884,

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ELIJAH Water-1r, of Cold-water, in the county of Tate and State of Mississippi, have invented a new and improved Hand-Power for Sewing-lllachines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, eificient, and inexpensive hand-power attachment to sewing or other light machines, whereby the injurious effects of a continual use of the treadle for working such machines may be avoided.

The invention consists of a hand-lever pivoted to the table or bed of the machine, and provided with a series of transverse slots to receive a pivot-stud, by which the pitman is connected to the lever. The lever has a pcculiar shape, enabling it to be worked without quickly. fatiguing the operator; and the fastenings of the lever to the pitman are by a stud-bolt of special construction, which enters a slot of the lever, so as to insure, with a thumb-nut, a reliable and quickly-adjustable connection, all as hereinafter fully described and claimed;

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sewingmachine stand, with the work-table in section, and with my improved hand-power applied. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation takenon the line a: 50, Fig. 1, and in larger size; and Fig. .3 is a plan view of a hinge-plate to which the handlev-er may be pivoted, also drawn to a larger" scale.

The letter a indicates the top or work-table of any ordinary sewing-machine. J) is one of the end leg-frames which support the table. 0 is the drive-wheel, which connects by avbelt (not shown) with the pulley of the upper driving-shat't of the sewing-machine above the-tablc. d is the treadle, and ethe rod or pitman which usually connects the end of the treadle with the wrist-pin f of the drive-wheel c, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the said pitman a being shown in full lines as connected with the hand-lever A, which is theprincipal part of my invention and will next be do- (No model.)

scribed. This hand-lever A. is hinged on a pin, B, tolugs ccofaplate, Qwhichis fixedby screws or pins to the. sewing-machine table a. The hingelugs for the lever may of course be cast upon or otherwise formed as apart of the table a, if desired. A short distance outside of its pivot B the lever A has a transverse e11 largement, l), in which I form slots E, three slots, as shown, being preferred. I make these slots E in the lever A so that at the extreme downstroke of the lever the slots shall be lengthwise in about the horizontal plane, and that portion of the lever above the lower end of the enlargement D will stand about vertical. From the lower or outer end of the enlargement D the extreme outer or handle portion proper of the lever ranges forward at about an angle of forty-live degrees and in a gentle curve, as at A, Fig. 1, makingit easy to grasp and operate the lever.

The end of the pitman c, which usually connects with the treadle, is, by my arrangement of it, passed loosely on the round end bearing 9 of a pivot-stud, G, which stud is adapted to enter either one of the slots E in the lever, and the tapering port-ion of the stud iits by two opposite fiat sides against the opposite flared or beveled faces or edges h of either slot E, and the round screw-threaded portion of the stud G extends through the slot to receive the thumb-nut H, which, when tightened on the face of the lever opposite to the pitman 6, will bind the stud G firmly at any point along the length of either of the slots E, aswill read ily be understood. A pin, i, passed through the stud G, outside of the pitman, holds the latter on the stud and to the lever.

It evident that by forming the transverse slots in the lever A provision is made for at taching pitmen c of various lengths to the lever by the stud G; hence my improved handpower may be connected with any ordinary sewingmachinc by varying the location of the pivot-stud in either slot E, to accommodate the length of the pitman. It will also be seen that the lever A may be connected to the table a, and will be out of the way of an operator working the machine by the treadle to which the pitman c then connects; and when wearied by the use of the treadle-power the operator can disconnect the pitman c from the treadlo 2 a r I r 306,370

' the hand-lever A is such that in swinging it on the pivot B to work the machine, the hand of the operator does not have adirect up-anddown inove1nent,-which would tend quickly to tire the muscles of the arm and shoulder, but the hand, grasping thelever, describes an inclined are, indicated by the dotted line 3/ y, Fig. 1, which allows a more natural and easy swinging motion of the arm, and is much less fatiguing to the operator.

By the use of my iniprovement many of the distressing diseases caused by the constant use of the treadle in driving sewing or other light machines may be avoided.

Having thus described myinvenlion, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent '1. The combination, with the pitinan e of a sewing or other machine, of the hand-lever A, pivoted to the table or bed of the machine, and provided with the series of transverse slots'E, and the pivot-stud G, adapted to connect the pitman at any point along any one of the slots, substantially as shown and described.

2. In hand-powers for sewing-machines, the lever A, adapted to be pivoted at one end to the machine-table a, and provided with a series of transverse slots ranging about horizontally when the lever is at the extreme of its downstroke, and a handle portion extending outward from below the slots and about at an angle of forty-five degrees, so that the operators hand in working the lever shall describe an inclined are, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination, with the pitrnan e and the lever A, havinga series of transverse slots,

E, formed with opposite beveled edges h h, as 40 specified, of the, pivot-stud G, made with the pitman-bearing g, the tapering portion 9, and the threaded end 9, and the thumb-nut H, substantially as herein shown and described.

ELIJAH WRIGHT. Vitnesses:

S. R. \VHITTEN, J. V. PATTY. 

